Soldier Survives Knife in Skull

Of all the injuries in the war in Iraq, the one Sgt. Dan Powers sustained was among the most unusual.

Powers, a member of the Army's 118th MP Company Airborne, was in eastern Baghdad investigating an explosion when suddenly an Iraqi walked up to him and stabbed him in the right side of his head. He didn't know what hit him.

"It felt like someone kind of clothesline tackled me and a thump on the side of the head, like a bang," he said.

An Iraqi teenager had inched up behind Powers on a Baghdad street and plunged a 9-inch knife deep into his skull, penetrating his brain.

Powers, who did not realize he had been stabbed, reacted quickly by throwing his attacker to the ground. Sgt. Michael Riley then tackled the man and turned him over to Iraqi security forces.

"He had no idea what had really happened," said Spc. Ryan Webb, a company medic. "I did have to fight a few people off that came by and were like, 'Whoa, you've got a knife sticking out of your head.'"

Amazingly, Powers remained conscious and alert as he was rushed to a combat hospital, when he finally noticed the knife and realized the gravity of his injury.